Illinois Overcomes Shaky Start to Bounce Xavier From NCAA Tournament

Freshman forward Will Riley got loose in the second half Friday to leave behind the Musketeers

Mar 21, 2025; Milwaukee, WI, USA: Illinois Fighting Illini forward Will Riley (7) drives to the hoop past Xavier Musketeers guard Dayvion McKnight (20) during the first half at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Until the NCAA Tournament starts awarding teams style points, an ugly win is worth precisely as much as a sexy one. For that reason, sixth-seeded Illinois can take heart in rallying from a feeble first half and bouncing 11th-seeded Xavier 86-73 in the first round Friday at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee,

On the other hand, the Illini (22-12) didn't offer much encouragement about what's to come in the bracket ahead. Freshman forward Will Riley, who scored a team-high 22 points, took yet another step forward, and three more Illini scored in double figures on a (rare) robust shooting night. But Friday's performance isn't the template Illinois wants to set moving forward.

Considering how much actually went right for the Illini against the Musketeers (22-12), the bones of a blowout were to build around. Illinois hit almost half its field-goal attempts, including a 12-for-30 mark (40.0 percent) from three, and turned in a spotless 18-for-18 performance from the free-throw line. The Illini pulverized the undersized Musketeers 45-25 on the boards.

But bad decisions and worse execution led to 14 Illinois turnovers, which Xavier turned into 13 points and used to keep the door cracked open into the second half. The Illini, as has been their nasty habit this season, made things far more difficult for themselves than necessary.

The glass-half-full argument, of course, is that they figured it out. Rather than trying to blast through Xavier's pick-and-roll blitzes, Kasparas Jakucionis began using the back-out dribble or simply finding the next man up in a timely fashion – and suddenly the Illini offense clicked.

Credit, too, to Riley, who loosened up around the same time and went on a personal 7-0 run to give Illinois a comfy cushion. After a nifty backdoor cut and dunk off a feed from big man Tomislav Ivisic and another dunk coming off an Ivisic pick that jammed up the duo's defenders, Riley checked the heat – and was rewarded with a pull-up three that put the Illini up 62-48 with 12:56 to play.

Xavier made a final push to cut Illinois' lead to eight with just over four minutes left, but Jakucionis set up Riley for another three and then dropped in a layup of his own to quell the threat. Jakucionis finished one rebound short of a triple-double, with 16 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists.

Illinois put on a clinic of by-the-numbers domination in the half that was all smoke and precious little fire. Despite holding Xavier to 38.2 percent shooting from the field, outrebounding the Musketeers 23-13 and – gasp! – hitting their shots (including 6-for-13 on threes), the Illini had almost nothing to show for it after committing eight turnovers.

Shaky shot selection, a lack of off-ball movement and sleepy recognition – center Tomislav Ivisic was too often missed or found late when he had the advantage – were the norm. Ivisic had 13 points before the break, mostly off a handful of pick-and-pops, but he easily could have 20 – and it's not as if much else was really working for the Illini. Even with a deep, might-as-well-let-it-fly three at the buzzer from guard Kylan Boswell, Illinois led just 40-35 at half.

Ivisic finished with 20 points (including four threes) and 10 rebounds, while Boswell chipped in 15 points.

The Illini move on to the second round to face three-seeded Kentucky on Sunday.

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